News Archive

Omori Bleeds! Kohei Defends! TAJIRI Accepts!

September 22nd, 2006

The big Relieve show at Korakuen Hall with 1,500 fans, interesting developments, strange alliances, a goodbye to a friend and new challenges ahead.

Earlier in the week, "Mr. Danger" Mitsuharu Matsunaga let it be known that he would be coming to show. When Otani commented that he doesn't trust Matsunaga and knows he must be scheming he laid down a challenge to the infamous deathmatch wrestler.

Matsunaga quickly responded with a FAX that he was coming only as a spectator and assured Otani that his main interest was the Kazunari Murakami versus Takao Omori match. Matsunaga did indeed sit quietly in the crowd as the match kicked off with Omori immediately attacking with chairshots before the bell even rung!

Eventually the match went to the outside, where the two went back to chairshots, brawling in the crowd as Omori worked Murakami over. And when the two brawled where near Matsunaga was seated he quickly produced a fork and sprang to the attack! He began stabbing Omori ruthlessly in the face over and over again! Finally Murakami and Matsunaga dragged Omori back to the ring where Murakami stomped him and Matsunaga continued to stab him in the face. After trying to regain control, the referee called for the No Contest due to the interference of Matsunaga.

Shinjiro Otani rushed the ring and jumped inside, challenging Murakami and Matsunaga to a tag match where he'll be Omori's partner. Omori instead got on the microphone and told Otani that this was his match and he'll go it alone. He said he would take on both Murakami and Matsunaga himself! With the crowd behind the bloodied Omori, he began with new strength and a quick flurry of offense. This didn't last long however as he planted Matsunaga with an Axe Guillotine driver, Murakami cut him off with a kick and the two foul villains just stomped Omori into the canvas, finally getting the 3 count.

After the match, Otani went to speak again but Yoshihito Sasaki came rushing out and grabbed the microphone away. He challenged Matsunaga, screaming at him that he drove him from ZERO1-MAX once before and he'll do it again! And then chased Matsunaga out of the arena. Afterwards, speaking to the sports media backstage Murakami said he wants to go after GPWA Chairman Mitsuharu Misawa to show that BIG MOUTH LOUD can pull its own weight in the alliance. He said he'll also be going to NOAH's 10/29 show and he'll be bringing Matsunaga with him.

The Main Event of the show was a 6-man Junior Tag of Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Ikuto Hidaka and Yoshihito Sasake against Sugawara, Kagetora and AWA World Jr. Champion Minoru Fujita. This was a match dreamed up by the AWA, where after winning the AWA World Jr. title Fujita would have to team with the El Dorado wrestlers. This put Fujita in an interesting spot since his longtime partner and friend, Ikuto Hidaka, was across from him and Sugawara has been quite a thorn in both their sides. Though after losing to Fujita in the "Tenka-Ichi Jr. Tournament" Sugawara shook Fujita's hand and showed his respect and admiration.

Previous to the match before this one, Yoshihiro Tajiri made his way into the room and took a seat at the reporters' table unknown to Fujita. On August 28th at his AWA World Jr. press conference Fujita said his dream match would be to face his former trainer and mentor in a singles match. The following day TAJIRI announced that he was well open to the idea and would consider it.

The match started out with Hidaka and Fujita facing each other, and was very high-speed and showed how familiar the two are with each others style. The whole match went almost sixteen minutes with lots of offense and high flying. The end came when Yoshihito finally hit the Argentine Coaster on Sugawara, and then a hard lariat for the win. After the match Fujita and Hidaka shook hands with each other.

Hidaka then pointed in the crowd to where TAJIRI was sitting much to Fujita's surprise. TAJIRI entered the ring to speak directly with Fujita. He got on the microphone and said the last time he faced Fujita was twelve years ago right here in Korakuen Hall! He said Fujita has come a long way: becoming the GHC Jr. Tag champ, the NWA Lightweight tag champ, the Tenka-ichi Champ and the AWA World Jr. champion. Fujita was quite surprised with this praise and in awe of his idol's knowledge.

TAJIRI said while he will fight Fujita on the next Korakuen Hall show on 10/27, it will not be for any titles. The two then did the "3-2-1..." and when TAJIRI broke into the "Tornado Hustle" before the final call Fujita stopped him and reminded him that in ZERO1-MAX the cheer has a different ending. They then both did the "3-2-1-ZERO-1...oooooooh...MAX!"

The Semi-Main Event was Kohei Sato defending his United National Heavyweight title against former judo classmate Tomohiko Hashimoto. And while there were plenty of kicks and judo throws involved there was also plenty of suplexes and drivers as the two fighters showcased their physical strength as well as fighting ability. After earlier kicking out of Kohei's German suplex hold, Hashimoto was able to rally slightly until Kohei used a tiger suplex followed by his German suplex hold for the victory and the defense. Afterwards the two shook hands and Kohei said he doesn't care who wants a shot at the United National title he'll fight anybody at any time.

The 4th match was a tag match where Ryouji teamed with former ZERO-ONE wrestler Wataru Sakata against former All Japan wrestlers Toshiaki Kawada and Kazuishi Miyamoto. And while the match when just over 17½ minutes, Sai and Sakata won when Ryouji used his top tope "Nachi Waterfall" on Miyamoto for the win. Kawada instantly left the ring and made his was to the locker room, leaving Miyamoto pondering his fate and string of losses alone in the ring.

Directly following the 3rd match, young wrestler Shinzuke Z Yamagasa retired from pro wrestling after a career plagued with injuries. He entered the ring and Otani gave him a bouquet of flowers and some final words of encouragement. Jeto got on the microphone and thanked the crowd and all the support the gave him in his short career. The then rang the ring bell 10 times and Ring Announcer Oki announced one more time "Yamagasa Jeto Shinsuke!" they played his ring music and the fans threw streamers. Sayonara Jeto!

Also on the card, Shinjiro Otani faced Lingerie Muto in a singles match, Tanaka, Fudo and Takahashi lost a 6-man tag to Kamikaze Gentaro and Honma. And in the opening bout Nami defeated Shota Takanishi with a crab hold.

He's Baaaack!! Mr. Danger Makes Contact!

September 15th, 2006

Several days ago, "Mr. Danger" Mitsuhiro Matsunaga contacted the ZERO1-MAX offices and requested a ticket to the September 22nd "Relieve" show in Korakuen Hall. He said he has special interest in the Takao Omori versus Kazunari Murakami singles match taking place that night.

Otani, when receiving word of this, said he knows Matsunaga is once again scheming, and the idea he's coming to not interfere isn't believable to him. Last year Matsunaga was invited into ZERO1-MAX by Kazuhiko Ogasawara's Karate Forces when they were fighting a losing battle with Young MAX. This completely backfired, as brining in a maniac like Matsunaga is never a save decisions and he soon left a trails of blood and despair in his wake as he tore through the Young MAX roster.

Even Ogasawara regretted his error and tried to stop Mr. Danger only to meet the same bloody fate. It finally took former FMW trainee Yoshihito Sasaki to defeat him in a wild No-rope Barbwire Spider Net & Barricade Board Double Hell Death Match.

Today Matsunaga sent a handwritten FAX to the ZERO1-MAX offices (seen at right) stating that Otani has it all wrong in thinking he's scheming:

"Otani you misunderstand. On September 22nd I'm coming to just observe and not interfere."

UN Title Challenge Press Conference!

September 14th, 2006

On September 22nd at the Relieve show in Korakuen Hall, current ZERO1-MAX United National Heavyweight champion Kohei Sato will face challenger Tomohiko Hashimoto of MAKEHEN.Today the two held a press conference at the FIRST ON STAGE offices in Tokyo to dicuss their upcoming match. The two wrestlers actually trained in judo at the same school when they were younger.

Hashimoto made his pro wrestling debut in 2000 with the JPWA and then transferred over to DDT before leaving that promtion in 2006 and becoming a freelancer for MAKEHEN. He has also participated in the Pancrase & PRIDE Fighting Championship MMA promotions. Tomohiko made his ZERO1-MAX debut on 8/25 at the MAX LAND - Progress show where he teamed with Tomoaki Honma against STONEHENGE (Kohei & Ryouji).

After the match Tomohiko showed interest in a singles match with Kohei, pointing to the UN title belt on Kohei's shoulder, and Kohei answered this with a handshake. Afterwards Kohei said he would accept any challenge, including Tomohiko's for a United National Heavyweight title match. Soon after the match was booked.

Kohei swears certain victory as the fighter in the match that represents ZERO1-MAX, and Tomohiko said he's glad to have a shot at a title belt.

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Global Professional Wrestling Alliance!

September 12th, 2006

Today the leaders of some of the most recognizable wrestling promotions in Japan officially announced the birth of the Global Professional Wrestling Alliance (GPWA). Pro Wrestling NOAH's CEO Mitsuharu Misawa was inaugurated as the first Chairman of the new alliance, with ZERO1-MAX's Yoshiyuki Nakamura announced as the company's President a position he hold also in FIRST ON STAGE.

At the Press Conference, Misawa commented that currently in Japan there are more than 30 companies running at the same time, but everywhere the management of all companies is "painful." With the GPWA, the promotions involved will all share the same training facilities and coordinate their event schedules so the don't run against each other and split the wrestling fan base. Nakamura said NOAH will be the flagship since they're currently the best managed in the country. The following eight Japanese companies are official members and their representatives:

IWA-JAPAN (Tatsukuni Asano)

El Dorado (Noriaki Kawabata)

KAIENTAI DOJO (TAKA Michinoku)

Kensuke Office (Hisako Sasaki)

ZERO1-MAX (Shinjiro Otani)

Dramatic Dream Team (Sanshiro Takagi)

BIG MOUTH LOUD (Kazunari Murakami)

NOAH (Mitsuharu Misawa)

And the Foreign Companies in the alliance:

EWA (Chris Raaber)

ROH (Cary Silkin)

WLW (Harley Race)

WORLD-1 (Steve Corino)

And the following freelance wrestlers have said they will participate:

Kikutaro (freelance)

Shiro Koshinaka (freelance)

Minoru Suzuki (Pancrase)

Yoshihiro Takayama (Takayama Hall)

NOSAWA (freelance)

Takaku Fuke (Pancrase)

MAZADA (freelance)

Tadao Yasuda (freelance)

"Future standardized organization simplifies the participation of the various promotions," said Misawa, " and it assures the spread and revival of worldwide wrestling..." Simply stated, the concept is to form an alliance that will keep the promotions from stepping on each other toes and fostering and environment of cooperation rather than competition. And to sometimes put on "Super Shows" where all the promotions will send fighters to compete representing their own companies under the GPWA banner.

The first show was announced for 11/14, though the fighter participations and details are undecided but it will be televised. In addition the logo of the company was introduced and as you can see above is a representation of a wrestling ring with red and blue corners but with a globe stretched from side to side to show the "love and courage all people of the world express via their admiration of pro wrestling."

ZERO SUN NEXUS!

September 1st, 2006

Today at the FIRST ON STAGE offices in Tokyo, ZERO1-MAX announced a working agreement with new sister promotion - Pro Wrestling SUN. Pro Wrestling SUN, an all-women pro wrestling promotion will have its debut show on October 1st in Korakuen Hall for their "SUN RISE" show. The promotion is headlined by the "Dream Catcher" stable of HIKARU, Nanae Takahashi, Saki Maemura and Natsuki*Head.

Kohei Sato, Ryoji Sai, Yoshihito Sasaki, HIKARU, Takahashi and Maemura were all on hand to explain that ZERO-SUN NEXUS will be a joining of young fighters who hold on their shoulders the future of the pro wrestling business in Japan.

ZERO1-MAX had featured women wrestlers on their shows many times in 2006, including mixed tags. FIRST ON STAGE is backing the new Pro Wrestling SUN promotion and as ZERO1-MAX's parent company it's only natural the two should combine to provide pro wrestling fans with both Women and Men's pro wrestling. ZERO-SUN NEXUS will give fans of pro wrestling in japan to see the future of men and women's pro wrestling.

TAJIRI Responds to Fujita's Challenge!

August 29th, 2006

A day after Minoru Fujita told the sports press that the person he'd like to face most is his pro wrestling "master" Yoshihiro Tajiri, Tajiri himself responded. Following a HUSTLE training session open to the media, the question was asked regarding Fujita's challenge.

"I would like to fight him," was the response from Fujita's former trainer. Tajiri said with ZERO1-MAX's connection to Dream Stage Entertainment, this match could be quick to arrange and could happen soon. Tajiri even mentioned that maybe he should take a "combat mission" to Korakuen Hall on September 22nd to confront his former trainee at the ZERO1-MAX "Relieve" show.

Jr. Champion Press Conference! TAJIRI In Z1??

August 28th, 2006

The 2006 Tenka-Ichi Jr. champion and new AWA World Jr. Heavyweight champion Minoru Fujita held a press conference today in Tokyo to discuss his victory and future goals as the new ZERO1-MAX Jr. Ace.

Fujita showed great confidence in his ability and said he would receive anybody's challenge for his belt. But when asked if he could choose his opponent the first name that came out was Yoshihiro Tajiri. Fujita called the former ECW and WWE superstar as "the master of professional wrestling."

Fujita also commented on his simultaneous jump to singles ace and fall from tag team domination with longtime partner Ikuto Hidaka. The 2005 Tag Team MVPs were both the ZERO1-MAX International Lightweight Tag Team Champions and the GHC Jr. Heavyweight tag team champions and lost both titles practically back-to-back. Fujita then faced his partner Hidaka in the tournament and defeated him in a surprising 1 minute!

Fujita said that you have to bounce back quick from losses such as these, and is glad he's succeeded so quickly in singles competition. First On Stage has scheduled Fujita in an interesting tag match on 9/22 at the "Relieve" show when he'll team alongside El Dorado's Takuya Sugawara and Kagetora against his former partner Ikuto Hidaka, Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Yoshihito Sasaki. The champ said he can show his respect for his longtime tag partner fighting against him as well alongside him and in the end it will be good for them both.

Finally, Fujita said his dream opponent would be HUSTLE's Yoshihiro Tajiri. Fujita said he trained with Tajiri in the beginning of his career when they were both in Big Japan. Calling the former WWE Cruiserweight champion his "master" in pro wrestling, and hoping he will make a ZERO1-MAX appearance very soon.